Boy listed as critical after being hit with bat

A 15-year-old township boy is hospitalized in critical condition after he was hit in the head with a baseball bat during a fight.

Police are investigating the assault of the boy that occurred about 3:30 p.m. Monday at a South Edgehill Avenue home.

Police said that when they arrived, the suspect’s mother was tending to the victim’s head wounds and stated: “My son hit him in the head with a bat.”

The suspect, a 16-year-old Austintown boy, told police that he and the victim hadn’t been getting along, and the victim began making threats to harm him, according to a police report.

He said that shortly before the incident, two unidentified males showed up at his back door, and he saw at least 10 more people, including the victim, standing on the sidewalk in the front of the house.

The suspect approached the group and was punched in the head by the victim, the report said. As the suspect fell to the ground, he saw the victim pull out a switchblade knife, at which point someone in the crowd tossed him an aluminum baseball bat, the report said.

The suspect swung the bat, striking the victim twice in the head, dropped the bat and ran, the report said.

The victim was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center, where he was listed in critical condition Wednesday night.

Police couldn’t locate the bat or knife and believe someone in the group likely picked them up as the crowd dispersed.

A witness at the scene told police he was at Woodside Elementary when the victim said he was going to the suspect’s home to fight him, the report said.

Austintown Detective Sgt. Ray Holmes said police are still investigating to determine whether charges will be filed.